1.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital

2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565

3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

4.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop

5.
Electronic dance music
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Electronic dance music is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. EDM is generally produced for playback by disc jockeys who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix, EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. In the United Kingdom and in continental Europe, EDM is more commonly called dance music or simply dance. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, following the emergence of raving, pirate radio, at this time a perceived association between EDM and drug culture led governments at state and city level to enact laws and policies intended to halt the spread of rave culture. By the early 2010s the term dance music and the initialism EDM was being pushed by the US music industry. Early examples of dance music include the disco music of Giorgio Moroder. During the early 1980s, the popularity of disco music declined in the United States, abandoned by major US record labels. European disco continued evolving within the mainstream pop music scene. European acts Silver Convention, Love and Kisses, Munich Machine, and American acts Donna Summer, in 1977, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte produced I Feel Love for Donna Summer. It became the first well-known disco hit to have a completely synthesised backing track, other disco producers, most famously American producer Tom Moulton, grabbed ideas and techniques from dub music to provide alternatives to the four on the floor style that dominated. The sound that originated from P-Funk the electronic side of disco, dub music. Much of the music produced during this time was, like disco, at this time creative control started shifting to independent record companies, less established producers, and club DJs. Other dance styles that began to become popular during the era include dance-pop, boogie, electro, Italo disco, house. In the early 1980s, electro emerged as a fusion of funk, also called electro-boogie, but later shortened to electro, cited pioneers include Zapp, D. Train, Sinnamon. Early hip hop and rap combined with German and Japanese electropop influences such as Kraftwerk, as the electronic sound developed, instruments such as the bass guitar and drums were replaced by synthesizers and most notably by iconic drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808. Early uses of the TR-808 include several Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks in 1980-1981, the 1982 track Planet Rock by Afrikaa Bambaataa, and the 1982 song Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye. In 1982, producer Arthur Baker with Afrika Bambaataa released the seminal Planet Rock which was influenced by the Yellow Magic Orchestra using Kraftwerk samples, Planet Rock was followed later that year by another breakthrough electro record, Nunk by Warp 9. In 1983, Hashim created an electro funk sound which influenced Herbie Hancock, the early 1980s were electros mainstream peak

6.
Ableton Live
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Ableton Live is a software music sequencer and digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows. The latest major release of Live, Version 9, was released on March 5,2013, in contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for composing, recording, arranging, mixing and mastering. Ableton Live is written in C++, with the first version released in 2001 as commercial software, Live itself was not prototyped in Max, although most of the audio devices were. Much of Lives interface comes from being designed for use in performance as well as for production. As such the interface is more compact than most sequencers and clearly designed for use on a single screen, there are few pop up messages or dialogs. Portions of the interface are hidden and shown based on arrows which may be clicked to show or hide a certain segment, Live now supports latency compensation for plug-in and mixer automation. Live is composed of two views – the arrangement view and the session view, the session view is primarily used to organize and trigger sets of MIDI and audio called clips. These clips can be arranged into scenes which can then be triggered as a unit, for instance a drum, bass and guitar track might comprise a single scene. When moving on to the scene, which may feature a synth bassline. As of Live 6, device racks have been implemented which allow the user to group instruments and effects. The other view is the arrangement view, which is used for recording tracks from the view and further manipulating their arrangement. It is also used for manual MIDI sequencing, something for which a composer would have a greater affinity. This view is similar to a traditional software sequencer interface. Clips may either be a sample or MIDI sequence. MIDI triggers notes on Lives built in instruments, as well as third party VST instruments or external hardware, by default, Live comes with two instruments - Impulse and Simpler. Impulse is a traditional drum triggering instrument which allows the user to define a kit of up to eight drum sounds, there are a number of effects available such as basic equalization, attack, decay, pitch shift, etc. Once the kit is defined, rhythms and beats are created through Lives MIDI sequencer, Simpler is a relatively easy-to-use sampling instrument. It functions using an audio sample, applying simple effects

7.
Steinberg Cubase
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Cubase is a music software product developed by German musical software and equipment company Steinberg for music recording, arranging and editing as part of a digital audio workstation. The first version, which ran on the Atari ST computer, in January 2003, Steinberg was acquired by U. S. firm Pinnacle Systems, within which it operated as an independent company before being sold to Yamaha Corporation in December,2004. The operator can mix the various tracks down into a stereo. wav file ready to be burned to a compact disc in Red Book format, or. mp3 burned to CD or DVD as files. Cubase has existed in three main incarnations, initially Cubase, which featured only MIDI, and which was available on the Atari ST, Macintosh and Windows. After a brief period with audio integration, the version, Cubase VST. It added Virtual Studio Technology support, a standard for audio plug-ins, Cubase VST was only for Macintosh and Windows, Atari support had been effectively dropped by this time, despite such hardware still being a mainstay in many studios. Cubase VST was offering an amount of power to the home user. By the time it did, VSTs audio editing ability was found to be lacking, to address this, a new version of the program, Cubase SX was introduced, which dramatically altered the way the program ran. This version required much relearning for users of older Cubase versions, however, once the new methods of working were learned, the improvements in handling of audio and automation made for a more professional sequencer and audio editor. A notable improvement with the introduction of Cubase SX was the audio editing. Early versions of Cubase VST did not have this ability, Cubase SX also featured real-time time-stretching and adjustment of audio tempo, much like Sonic Foundrys ground-breaking ACID. In September 2006 Steinberg announced Cubase 4 - the successor to Cubase SX3, notable new features include control room, a feature designed to help create monitor mixes, and a new set of VST3 plug-ins and instruments. There are also lighter economic alternatives by Steinberg, originally named Cubasis, later becoming Cubase SE, for its sixth generation, the program was renamed Cubase Elements 6. The name change was done presumably, because its rival Cakewalk had taken the Essential branding for its own entry-level DAW software, while the full version of Cubase features unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, lesser versions have limits. For instance, Cubase Elements 6 has a maximum of 48 audio track and 64 MIDI tracks, in 2013, Steinberg introduced Cubasis for iPad, a Cubase for iOS. This version was a rewrite and supports MIDI and audio tracks, audiobus. 2014 Updates brought automation and Inter-App Audio, Cubase does not support high DPI screens. Cubase VST3.7 in 1999 introduced a virtual instrument interface for software known as VSTi

8.
Logic Pro
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Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab and it became an Apple product, eventually known as Logic Pro, after Apple bought Emagic in 2002. Apples GarageBand, another application using Logic’s audio engine, is bundled in iLife, Logic Pro provides software instruments, audio effects and recording facilities for music synthesis. It also supports Apple Loops – royalty-free professionally recorded instrument loops, Logic Pro and Express share many functions and the same interface. Logic Express is limited to two-channel stereo mixdown, while Logic Pro can handle multichannel surround sound, both can handle up to 255 audio tracks, depending on system performance. Logic Pro can work with MIDI keyboards and control surfaces for input and processing and it features real-time scoring in musical notation, supporting guitar tablature, chord abbreviations and drum notation. These instruments produce sound in various ways, through subtractive synthesis, frequency modulation synthesis, wavetable synthesis, vocoding, sampling, as of version 10.2, Logic Pro X also includes Alchemy, a sample-manipulation synthesizer that was previously developed by Camel Audio. The software instruments are activated by MIDI information that can be inputed via an instrument or drawn into the midi editor. The application features distributed processing abilities, which can function across an Ethernet LAN, One machine runs the Logic Pro app, while the other machines on the network run the Logic node app. Logic will then offload the effects and synth processing to the machines on the network. If the network is fast enough this can work in near real-time, depending on buffer settings and this allows users to combine the power of several Macintosh computers to process Logic Pro’s built-in software instruments and plug-ins, and 3rd party processing plug-ins. As of version 10.0.7, Logic can access 24 processing threads, in the mid-to-late 1980s, Gerhard Lengeling and Chris Adam developed a MIDI sequencer program for the Atari ST platform called Creator. When musical notation capabilities were added, this became Notator, for simplicity these three are collectively referred to as Notator. Its main rivals at the time included Performer, Vision & Steinberg 16 and this more closely resembled working principles of hardware sequencers of the 1970s and 1980s. The C-Lab programmers left that company to form Emagic, and in 1993 released a new program, Notator Logic, while rich in features, early versions of Logic on the Atari lacked the intuitiveness and immediacy of either Cubase or Notator, and never achieved the same success. The Notator preface was dropped from the name and the software became known as simply Logic. Apple acquired Emagic in July 2002, the announcement included the news that development of the Windows version would no longer continue. This announcement caused controversy in the industry with an estimated 70,000 users having invested in the Windows route not wishing to reinvest in a complete new system

9.
MacBook Pro
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The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple Inc. Replacing the PowerBook G4, the MacBook Pro was the model to be announced during the Apple–Intel transition. It is the model of the MacBook family and is currently available in 13-. A 17-inch version was available between April 2006 and June 2012, the first generation MacBook Pro appeared externally similar to the PowerBook G4, but used Intel Core processors instead of PowerPC G4 chips. The 15-inch model was introduced first, in January 2006, the 17-inch model followed in April, both received several updates and Core 2 Duo processors later that year. The products second iteration, known as the model, has a casing made from a single piece of aluminum. It debuted in October 2008 in 13- and 15-inch screen sizes, in January 2009, the 17-inch model was updated with the same unibody design. Subsequent updates brought upgraded Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and introduced Intels Thunderbolt technology, Apple released the third generation of MacBook Pro with a 15-inch screen during WWDC2012 and discontinued the 17-inch variant. The previous generation 13- and 15-inch unibody models continued to sell with updated processors, the third generation model was a quarter thinner than its predecessor and introduced the Retina Display with a much higher screen resolution. A 13-inch variant was released in October 2012, the fourth generation MacBook Pro was announced on October 27,2016. It replaced the function keys with an interactive, multi-touch Touch Bar, the 15-inch notebook started at $2,399, compared to $1,999 for the previous iteration. The original 15-inch MacBook Pro was announced on January 10,2006 by Steve Jobs at the Macworld Conference & Expo, the 17-inch model was unveiled on April 24,2006. The first design was largely a carryover from the PowerBook G4, the 15-inch MacBook Pro weighs the same as the 15-inch aluminum PowerBook G4, but is 0.1 inches deeper,0.4 inches wider, and 0.1 inches thinner. Other changes from the PowerBook include a built-in iSight webcam and the inclusion of MagSafe and these features were later brought over to the MacBook. The optical drive was reduced in size in order to fit into the slimmer MacBook Pro, hence it runs slower than the drive in the PowerBook G4. Both the original 15- and 17-inch model MacBook Pros come with ExpressCard/34 slots, all first generation 15-inch models have two USB2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port, while the 17-inch models have three USB2.0 ports as well as one FireWire 400 port. S-Video capability can be attained through the use of a DVI to S-Video adapter, external displays with up to a 2,560 ×1,600 pixel resolution are supported through a dual-link DVI port. All models include a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port, Bluetooth 2.0, later models include support for the draft 2.0 specification of 802. 11n and Bluetooth 2.1

10.
Maschine
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Maschine is a hybrid hardware/software digital audio workstation developed by Native Instruments. Maschine consists of a controller that connects to the included sequencing software, the Maschine controller is designed like a drum machine, similar to products like the Akai MPC. The controller is powered and connected by USB, with each variation featuring 16 pressure sensitive pads, there are currently 6 different hardware variations, Maschine, As the original configuration, Maschine featured 16 pressure sensitive pads,11 rotary knobs,2 LCD screens, and 41 buttons. Alongside the USB connection, Maschine also featured a MIDI input and output to connect to compatible gear externally. Maschine Mikro, Designed as the budget and portable configuration, Maschine Mikro featured 16 pressure sensitive pads, but only one LCD screen, a single knob, Mikro also lacked the built in MIDI connectivity which Maschine possessed. Maschine Mk2, The current configuration of Maschine is nearly identical to its predecessor, as well,3 knobs related to volume, tempo, and swing were replaced with a single jog wheel, and 6 buttons. The unit also comes in black or white, and features a removable magnetic top-plate. Maschine Mikro Mk2, The current configuration of Maschine Mikro features upgraded pads, the hardware layout is identical to the previous iteration, but comes in black or white. Maschine Studio, The most recent configuration of Maschine, Studio is marketed as the edition of the hardware. Studio features 16 pressure sensitive pads, RGB backlighting,9 rotary knobs,2 color LCD screens,2 sliders, a jog wheel, and 66 buttons. The controller also features dual MIDI inputs and outputs,2 foot switch inputs, the software is primarily based on drum sequencing and designed for use with the Maschine line of hardware controllers. Users assign drum kits, instruments and sounds from the library, to each of the controllers 16 pads. The software also includes tools to capture and manipulate audio samples in real time, all functions can be performed without the use of a mouse, and instead directly from the hardware itself. The 2.0 version of the software added multi-core cpu support, a new engine, the removal of plugin limits. Maschine was also ported and simplified into an iOS app called iMaschine, users use the touch screen to manipulate a virtual recreation of the 16 pads found on the Maschine controller. With the release of iMaschine 2, the app features many of the features found on the full suite, such as step sequencing, arrangement. IMaschine 2 on the iPhone 6 line of phones also utilizes the phones 3D touch capabilities, Maschine was first released on April 1,2009, in a package that contained the original iteration of the hardware controller and Maschine software 1.0. On October 1,2011, Native Instruments released Maschine Mikro, a budget oriented version of the hardware controller and that same year iMaschine was also released, an iOS app which brought key features of both the software and hardware components to the mobile platform

11.
Bass guitar
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The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, slapping, popping, strumming, tapping, thumping, or picking with a plectrum, often known as a pick. The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to a guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length. The four-string bass, by far the most common, is tuned the same as the double bass. The bass guitar is an instrument, as it is notated in bass clef an octave higher than it sounds to avoid excessive ledger lines. Like the electric guitar, the guitar has pickups and it is plugged into an amplifier and speaker on stage, or into a larger PA system using a DI unit. Since the 1960s, the guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music as the bass instrument in the rhythm section. While types of basslines vary widely from one style of music to another, many styles of music utilise the bass guitar, including rock, heavy metal, pop, punk rock, country, reggae, gospel, blues, symphonic rock, and jazz. It is often a solo instrument in jazz, jazz fusion, Latin, funk, progressive rock and other rock, the adoption of a guitar form made the instrument easier to hold and transport than any of the existing stringed bass instruments. The addition of frets enabled bassists to play in more easily than on acoustic or electric upright basses. Around 100 of these instruments were made during this period, around 1947, Tutmarcs son, Bud, began marketing a similar bass under the Serenader brand name, prominently advertised in the nationally distributed L. D. Heater Music Company wholesale jobber catalogue of 1948, however, the Tutmarc family inventions did not achieve market success. In the 1950s, Leo Fender, with the help of his employee George Fullerton and his Fender Precision Bass, which began production in October 1951, became a widely copied industry standard. This split pickup, introduced in 1957, appears to have been two mandolin pickups, the pole pieces and leads of the coils were reversed with respect to each other, producing a humbucking effect. Humbucking is a design that electrically cancels the effect of any AC hum, the Fender Bass was a revolutionary new instrument, which could be easily transported, and which was less prone to feedback when amplified than acoustic bass instruments. Monk Montgomery was the first bass player to tour with the Fender bass guitar, roy Johnson, and Shifty Henry with Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, were other early Fender bass pioneers. Bill Black, playing with Elvis Presley, switched from bass to the Fender Precision Bass around 1957. The bass guitar was intended to appeal to guitarists as well as upright bass players, following Fenders lead, in 1953, Gibson released the first short scale violin-shaped electric bass with extendable end pin, allowing it to be played upright or horizontally. In 1959 these were followed by the more conventional-looking EB-0 Bass, the EB-0 was very similar to a Gibson SG in appearance

12.
No I.D.
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Ernest Dion Wilson, professionally known as No I. D. is an American hip hop and R&B music producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a jockey, music arranger and rapper, having released an album in 1997, titled Accept Your Own and Be Yourself. He is perhaps best known for his work with Chicago-based rapper Common. Wilson, who has served as a mentor for several artists. Wilson was once president of Wests GOOD Music record company and although he would resign from that position, in June 2011, Wilson announced he formed the supergroup Cocaine 80s, alongside Common and several other artists. In August 2011, Wilson became the Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings and he subsequently launched his own record label imprint, ARTium Recordings. He is currently the Executive Vice President and Head of Creative at Def Jam Recordings, in 1996, Wilson released an album under the pseudonym No I. D. titled Accept Your Own and Be Yourself. The moniker No I. D. is a half-palindrome of his birth name and he also released a beat tape, titled Invisible Beats. In Wilsons early career he was working as a co-producer for Jermaine Dupri, Wilson also introduced Chicago-based rapper Kanye West to hip hop production, inviting him to his sessions with Common, when West was only beginning. West cites Wilson as his mentor on Last Call, the outro to his acclaimed debut album The College Dropout. West also referenced Wilsons mentorship on songs such as Big Brother, Wilsons second official release was with Dug Infinite, a two-album package titled The Sampler, vol. In 2007, he was the focus of perhaps the most attention of his career for producing two songs from Jay-Zs album American Gangster. At the time he worked with such as Jay-Z, Rhymefest, Plies, Big Sean, Killer Mike, Rick Ross, Drake, and Kanye West, Young Jeezy. Wilson produced D. O. A. the first single for Jay-Zs eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3, as well as the second single Run This Town, which features Kanye West and Rihanna. He once again teamed up with Common for the first time since 1997, after resigning as President of Kanye West GOOD Music record company, in August 2011, it was announced No I. D. was appointed Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings. In addition, Def Jam has signed a joint venture label deal for No I. D. s Artium Recordings. In 2013, Wilson served as the producer of GOOD Music recording artist Big Seans second album Hall of Fame. In an August 2013 interview with Complex, Wilson said he was working on Jhene Aiko

13.
Def Jam Recordings
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Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. In the UK, the takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Virgin EMI, while in Japan. The label distributes various record labels, including Kanye Wests GOOD Music, Ludacris Disturbing Tha Peace, Def Jam was founded by Rick Rubin in his dormitory in Weinstein Hall at New York University and its first release was a single by his punk-rock group Hose. Russell Simmons joined Rubin shortly after they were introduced to other, according to one story. Another cites DJ Jazzy Jay as their connector, Rubin has said he met Simmons on the TV show, Graffiti Rock and recognized him then as the face of hip hop, He was five years older than me, and he was already established in the music business. And I had no experience whatsoever, the first single released with the Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jays Its Yours. The first releases with Def Jam Recordings catalog numbers were LL Cool Js I Need a Beat, the singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with CBS Records through Columbia Records the following year. A few years later, Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen started a label called Rush Associated Labels to handle Def Jam. RAL became the home to Nice & Smooth and EPMD after both acts were acquired due to the folding of their former label Sleeping Bag Records, other acts under the RAL umbrella included Redman, Onyx, Flatlinerz, Domino, Warren G and Jayo Felony. As the decade drew to a close, the label signed Public Enemy, Lyor Cohen became president of Def Jam/RAL in 1988, after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form Def American Recordings. Rubin would take Slayer with him to Def American in its initial stages, by 1992, despite recent multi-platinum selling releases from Public Enemy, and EPMD, Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles and was faced with folding. However, in 1994, PolyGram purchased Sonys 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings — subsequently bringing the label into its fold, following PolyGrams purchase, Def Jam distributed the Violator Records-signed artist Warren Gs Regulate. G Funk Era album, which went triple platinum and brought much-needed revenue to Def Jam through its distribution deal with Violator, PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in 1996, further strengthening its ownership of Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, Rush Associated Labels was renamed Def Jam Music Group, the label remained profitable as its veteran star LL Cool J released his successful album Mr. Smith in 1995. The label later signed Foxy Brown, whose debut album Ill Na Na became a seller in 1997. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagram and merged with the MCA family of labels and it then purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings from Russell Simmons for a reported $100 million. UMG merged 14+ record labels including, Def Jam, Island Records, despite the formation of IDJMG, the Def Jam, Mercury, and Island labels continued to operate as separate imprints underneath the bigger umbrella. Lyor Cohen was appointed co-president of IDJMG, and Kevin Liles succeeded him as president of Def Jam, Def Soul also issued recordings by Musiq, Montell Jordan, Case,112, Patti LaBelle, and Christina Milian

14.
Vince Staples
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Vincent Jamal Vince Staples is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is part of the hip hop trio Cutthroat Boyz alongside fellow Californian rappers A$ton Matthews, Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, in particular Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt. He is currently signed to Blacksmith Records, ARTium Recordings and Def Jam Recordings, Staples rose to prominence with appearances on albums by Odd Future members and his collaborative mixtape titled Stolen Youth with Mac Miller, who produced the project. In October 2014, he released his debut EP Hell Can Wait and his debut album, Summertime 06, was released on June 30,2015, to critical acclaim. He was also featured as a part of the XXL2015 Freshman Class, vincent Staples was born on July 2,1993, in the Ramona Park neighborhood in Northside, Long Beach, California. Staples was introduced to music by Dijon LaVish Samo, Chuck Wun, LaVish brought Staples on a trip to LA, where he befriended Odd Future collective members Syd tha Kyd, Mike G, and Earl Sweatshirt. Although he had not intended to be a rapper, he featured on some of their songs, following this, he decided to pursue a career in rap and released his debut mixtape Shyne Coldchain Vol.1 on December 30,2011 via applebird. com. In October 2012, he released a mixtape entitled Winter In Prague, the mixtape features guest appearances from Mac Miller, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Da$H, Hardo, and Staples Cutthroat Boyz co-member, Joey Fatts. Following Stolen Youths release, he toured as an act on Mac Millers The Space Migration Tour. On March 13,2014, he released his fourth mixtape, on March 2,2014, Staples began touring the US with Schoolboy Q and Isaiah Rashad on the Oxymoron World Tour, to support the release of Schoolboy Qs album Oxymoron. On August 15,2014, Staples released a video for Blue Suede. The track was made available on iTunes. On September 9,2014, Vince released another new song titled Hands Up via iTunes and he released the EP Hell Can Wait on October 7,2014. Prior to the EPs release Staples revealed during an interview with XXL Magazine that it would include guest appearances from A$ton Matthews and Teyana Taylor, along with productions from No I. D. On May 4,2015, Staples released Señorita as the first single from his album titled Summertime 06. On June 15, Staples released the single off the album. On June 22, he released the single Norf Norf, on February 23,2016, Staples was announced as part of the line up for the 2016 Osheaga Music Festival. On August 25,2016, Staples released the seven-track EP Prima Donna, featuring guest appearances by A$AP Rocky and Kilo Kish, on January 31,2017, he announced the single Bagbak would be released on February 3,2017

15.
Ty Dolla Sign
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Tyrone William Griffin Jr. known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He first gained recognition in 2010 for his feature on YGs Toot It and Boot It. In the summer of 2013, he signed a deal with Wiz Khalifas Taylor Gang Records. In November 2015, he released his studio album, Free TC. Ty Dolla Sign is perhaps best known for his singles Paranoid, Or Nah, and Blasé, as well as his contributions to Loyal, Post to Be. Aside from his music career, Ty Dolla Sign is also a member of production team D. R. U. G. S. Alongside Chordz 3D, Buddah, Nate 3D, James Koo, Fuego, Ty Dolla Sign was born Tyrone William Griffin Jr. on April 13,1985, in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, Ty Dolla Sign was a member, representing the Bloods. Ty Dolla Sign is the son the musician Tyrone Griffin, a member of the band Lakeside, Ty Dolla Sign began his music career by learning how to play the bass guitar and later learned how to play drums, guitars, keyboards, and the MPC. Ty Dolla Sign and his partner Kory were signed a deal with Venus Brown and Buddah Brown Entertainment, subsequently releasing a mixtape. The duo also made guest appearances on albums by other artists such as Sa-Ra Creative Partners. They also sang on songs such as U, which was featured on the latter 2007s recording Popular Demand, eventually, however, the partners had a falling out related to these ventures. He then became affiliated with YGs group Pu$haz Ink, in 2011, Ty Dolla Sign released his first solo song, titled All Star featuring Joe Moses, and produced by Fuego. Ty Dolla Sign then released My Cabana, featuring Young Jeezy, Ty Dolla Sign co-founded the production team D. R. U. G. S. Alongside longtime friends and fellow music producers Chordz 3D and G Casso, including Nate 3D, Buddah Shampoo, Fuego, DJ Mustard and DJ Dahi. In 2012, Ty Dolla Sign signed a contract with Atlantic Records. After signing with Atlantic Records, he released his first solo mixtape, titled Beach House and he followed with the mixtapes sequel, Beach House 2, on July 1,2013. Beach House 2 features guest appearances from Too $hort, Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J and Kirko Bangz, the following day, it was revealed that Ty Dolla Sign signed a deal with Wiz Khalifas Taylor Gang Records

16.
Drake (musician)
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Aubrey Drake Graham is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Drake initially gained recognition as an actor on the teen television series Degrassi. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper, he departed the series in 2007 following the release of his debut mixtape and he released two further independent projects, Comeback Season and So Far Gone, before signing to Lil Waynes Young Money Entertainment in June 2009. Drake released his studio album Thank Me Later in 2010. They were followed by two mixtapes, with the trap-influenced If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, and a collaboration with Future for What a Time to Be Alive, in 2015. The former was certified platinum in the U. S. Drake released his fourth album, Views, in 2016. The dancehall-influenced Views sat atop the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks and its single One Dance topped the chart in several countries, including the U. S. the UK and Canada, where it became his first number-one single as the lead artist. This saw Drake leading the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 simultaneously for eight weeks and it achieved quadruple platinum status in the U. S. and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release. The single Hotline Bling secured him his second and third Grammy win, for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song, Drake released the critically acclaimed multi-genre More Life in 2017. More Life, described by Drake as a playlist, was his seventh number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Drake owns several Billboard chart records and he has the most charted songs among solo artists in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, the most simultaneously charted Hot 100 songs in a single week and the most Hot 100 debuts in a week. Drake also has the most number one singles on the Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, alongside his Grammy Award wins, Drake has won three Juno Awards and six BET Awards. Drake has developed other ventures, including his OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator Noah 40 Shebib, Drake acts as a producer, producing under the pseudonym of Champagne Papi. Using the OVO moniker, Drake has his own clothing line and he is also currently acting as the global ambassador for NBA franchise, the Toronto Raptors. Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24,1986, in Toronto and his father, Dennis Graham, is an African American and a practicing Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, and worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis. Bass guitarist Larry Graham and the late songwriter Teenie Hodges are his paternal uncles, Drakes mother, Sandi Graham, is a white Jewish Canadian who worked as an English teacher and florist. Drake attended a Jewish day school, and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, Drakes parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto, as a child, he witnessed his fathers arrest while visiting him in Memphis

17.
Kendrick Lamar
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Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American hip hop recording artist and songwriter. He began to gain recognition in 2010, after his first retail release, the following year, Lamar independently released his first studio album, Section.80, which included his debut single, HiiiPoWeR. By that time, he had amassed a large Internet following and collaborated with artists in the hip hop industry, including The Game, Snoop Dogg. Lamar secured a record deal with Aftermath and Interscope Records. His major-label debut, good kid, m. A. A. d city, was released in October 2012 to critical success and it debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The record contained the top 40 singles Swimming Pools, Bitch, Dont Kill My Vibe, Lamar won his first Grammy Award for i, lead single from his critical acclaimed third album To Pimp a Butterfly. The album drew on jazz, funk, soul, and spoken word, debuted atop the charts in the US and the UK. In 2016, Lamar released untitled unmastered, a collection of unreleased demos that originated during the recording sessions for Butterfly. Lamar has received a number of accolades over the course of his career, in early 2013, MTV named Lamar the number one Hottest MC in the Game, on their annual list. Time named Lamar one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, Kendrick Lamar was born in Compton, California, the son of a couple from Chicago, Illinois. His first name was given to him by his mother in honor of American singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks and he grew up on welfare and section 8 housing. As a child, Lamar attended McNair Elementary in the Compton Unified School District, as a teenager, Lamar went on to attend Centennial High School in Compton, where he was a straight-A student. In 2004, at the age of 16, Lamar released his first full-length project, the mixtape was released under Konkrete Jungle Muzik and garnered local recognition for Lamar. The mixtape led to Lamar securing a contract with Top Dawg Entertainment. He began recording material with the label and subsequently released a 26 track mixtape two years later, titled Training Day. Throughout 2006 and 2007, Lamar would appear alongside other up-and-coming West Coast rappers, such as Jay Rock and Ya Boy, under the moniker K-Dot, Lamar was also featured on The Games songs The Cypha and Cali Niggaz. Lamar garnered further recognition after a video of a performance of a Charles Hamilton show surfaced. Lamar did not hesitate and began rapping a verse over the instrumental to Miilkbones Keep It Real, after receiving a co-sign from Lil Wayne, Lamar released his third mixtape in 2009, titled C4, which was heavily themed around Waynes Tha Carter III LP

18.
Kanye West
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Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial success. He went on to pursue a variety of different styles on subsequent albums Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreak. In 2010, he released his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to rave reviews from critics, West released his abrasive sixth album, Yeezus, to further critical praise in 2013. His seventh album, The Life of Pablo, was released in 2016, Wests outspoken views and life outside of music have received significant mainstream attention. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct at award shows, on social media and he is the founder and head of the creative content company DONDA. His 2014 marriage to television personality Kim Kardashian has also been subject to media coverage. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time, three of his albums have been included and ranked on Rolling Stones 2012 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. He has also included in a number of Forbes annual lists. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015, West was born on June 8,1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents divorced when he was three years old, after the divorce, he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ray West was later a Christian counselor, and in 2006, opened the Good Water Store and Café in Lexington Park, Maryland with startup capital from his son. West, was a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, West was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. At the age of 10, West moved with his mother to Nanjing, China, according to his mother, West was the only foreigner in his class, but settled in well and quickly picked up the language, although he has since forgotten most of it. When asked about his grades in school, West replied, I got As. West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age and his mother recalled that she first took notice of Wests passion for drawing and music when he was in the third grade. Growing up in Chicago, West became deeply involved in its hip hop scene and he started rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists

19.
Logic (musician)
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Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, known by his stage name Logic, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Logic expressed an interest in music as a teenager and he would then sign with Visionary Music Group, before releasing two more mixtapes over two years, which amassed Logic nationwide attention by 2012. Logic went on to release his fourth mixtape Young Sinatra, Welcome to Forever in 2013 to critical acclaim, the single Under Pressure preceded the album, and the album debuted at number four on the U. S. Billboard 200 chart. It was later confirmed by the Recording Industry Association of America to have more than 171,000 copies. It was later confirmed to have sold over 185,000 copies in the United States, Logic soon released Bobby Tarantino in 2016. It is his mixtape and the first since Young Sinatra. Sir Robert Bryson Hall II was born on January 22,1990, in Gaithersburg, Maryland to Robert Bryson Hall, an African-American Maryland native, and a Caucasian mother. Logic spent much of his youth in the West Deer Park neighborhood of the city, both of Logics parents suffered from cocaine addiction and alcoholism. Despite his father initially being absent in his childhood, Logic was able to reconnect with Hall due to his rap career. During his early adolescent years, Logic witnessed his brothers produce and distribute crack cocaine to all over the block. Logic maintains that he knows how to manufacture and produce crack cocaine following these experiences. He attended neighboring Gaithersburg High School, however, he did not graduate and was soon expelled after he began skipping classes in the 10th grade. Logic would comment on the expulsion, stating I started doing badly and failed every class but English, so they kicked me out of school, at the age of 13, Logic met Solomon Taylor, who would soon become his mentor. Logic first became interested in rap and hip hop after watching the movie Kill Bill, Volume 1, directed by Quentin Tarantino, the films score was completed by RZA, a member of the rap group Wu-Tang Clan. Following this, Logic began listening to the group, and soon expressed a deep affection for hip hop, Logic bought The Roots album Do You Want More. Later that year, which prompted Taylor to bring Logic a large number of CDs containing instrumental beats, in 2009, Logic performed under the stage name Psychological with Logic describing the name as one name that really stuck. I just loved this word because it was about the mind and I knew thats what I wanted my music to consist of and he released an unofficial mixtape titled Psychological – Logic, The Mixtape under his original stage name. The mixtape allowed Logic to serve as the act for artists like Pitbull, EPMD, Method Man, Redman

20.
Lupe Fiasco
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Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album and he also performs as the frontman of rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco is the executive officer of 1st. Raised in Chicago, Jaco developed an interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of vulgarity, after adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs in his fathers basement, 19-year-old Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak. The group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z who helped him sign a deal with Atlantic Records. In September 2006, Fiasco released his debut album Lupe Fiascos Food & Liquor on the label and he released his second album, Lupe Fiascos The Cool, in December 2007. The lead single Superstar became his first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, after a two-year delay, Lasers was released in March 2011 to mixed reviews, however, it became his first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. His latest album, Tetsuo & Youth, was released in January 2015, in addition to music, Fiasco has pursued other business ventures, including fashion. He runs two clothing lines, Righteous Kung-Fu and Trilly & Truly, he has designed sneakers for Reebok and he has been involved with charitable activities, including the Summit on the Summit expedition, and in 2010 he recorded a benefit single for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Fiasco is also noted for his anti-establishment views, which he has expressed in interviews and his music. Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16,1982 in Chicago, Fiasco is of West African descent, one of nine children of Shirley, a gourmet chef, and Gregory, an engineer. His father, a member of the Black Panther Party, was a prolific African drummer, karate teacher, operating plant engineer, Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West Side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project. At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes and his parents divorced when he was five, and he went on to live with his mother, but his father still remained an important part of his life. In sixth grade, he went to live with his father full-time in Harvey and his father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers. As a teenager, Fiasco participated in Academic Decathlon competitions and his mother described him by saying, He was a great spirited child. Smart, a bit complex, he kind of was a loner, always had a book bag over his shoulder and some type of a writing tablet. Fiasco initially disliked hip hop music for its use of vulgarity and his struggle to learn to play an instrument led him to create poetry instead, which led to his interest in the lyrical aspects of music. He began rapping his poems in the grade, and upon hearing Nas 1996 album, It Was Written

21.
Inglewood, California
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Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the city had a population of 109,673 and it was incorporated on February 14,1908. The city is in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park is currently under construction in the city and when completed around 2019 will be the new home of both the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers. The earliest residents of what is now Inglewood were Native Americans who used the springs in todays Edward Vincent Jr. Park. Local historian Gladys Waddingham wrote that these took the name Centinela from the hills that rose gradually around them. These settlers, she wrote, were ordered by the officials of the San Gabriel Mission to graze their animals on the side of Los Angeles in order not to infringe on Mission lands. Later Avila constructed an adobe on a slight rise overlooking the creek that ran from Centinela Springs all the way to the ocean. According to the LAOkay web site, this adobe was built where the present baseball field is in the park, two years later, Waddingham writes, Ygnacio was granted the 2, 220-acre Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela even though this land had already been claimed by Avila. Inglewood Park Cemetery, a widely used cemetery for the region, was founded in 1905. The city has been home to the Hollywood Park Racetrack from 1938 to 2013, fosters Freeze, the first Soft Serve ice cream chain in California, was founded by George Foster in 1946 in Inglewood. Inglewood was named an All-America City by the National Civic League in 1989, on January 12,2016, Inglewood was selected to be the home of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. The raid led to the death of one of the culprits. A jury returned a not guilty verdict for all defendants who completed the trial and it was this scandal, according to the Los Angeles Times, that eventually led to the outlawing of the Klan in California. The Klan had a chapter in Inglewood as late as October 1931, no blacks had ever lived in Inglewood, Gladys Waddingham wrote, but by 1960, they lived in great numbers along its eastern borders. This came to the displeasure of the predominantly white residents already residing in Inglewood. In 1960, the census counted only 29 Negroes among Inglewoods 63,390 residents, not a single black child attended the citys schools. Real estate agents refused to show homes to blacks, a rumored curfew kept blacks off the streets at night. Inglewood was a target because of its history of restrictions

22.
Jay Rock
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Johnny Reed McKinzie, Jr. better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American hip hop recording artist from Watts, California. In 2007, alongside TDE, Rock secured a contract with Warner Bros. Since 2006, Rock has released mixtapes and is perhaps best known for his 2008 commercial debut single, All My Life. In 2011, after signing his deal with Strange Music, Rocks often-delayed and long-awaited debut studio album. The album was supported by the singles All My Life and Hood Gone Love It and his second studio album 90059 was released in September 2015. It was supported by the singles Money Trees Deuce, Gumbo, Jay Rock was born Johnny Reed McKinzie, Jr. on March 31,1985. Rock was raised in Watts, Los Angeles, California, in the Nickerson Gardens projects, as a youth, he became a member of the Bounty Hunter Bloods street gang and attended Locke High School. During this time, he had been jailed on two occasions, due to the areas anti-gang injunction. In 2005, Anthony Top Dawg Tiffith, chief officer of independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment, found Rock and signed him to his label. After signing to TDE, Rock released several mixtapes throughout his neighborhood, with the help of TDE, Rock was able to secure a recording contract with Asylum Records and later a joint venture deal with Warner Bros. Rock released his debut single, All My Life in late 2008, featuring fellow American recording artists Lil Wayne. The single was promoted as one of iTuness Free Downloads in early 2009, in 2010, Rock was featured on the cover of XXLs annual Top 10 Freshmen issue. He was also named by MTV one of 2010s breakthrough MCs, Jay Rock was featured on Omarions song Hoodie and was supposed to be featured on Flo Ridas third studio album Only One Flo but was left off the final track listing. Rocks mixtape Tales From the Hood 2 went to iTunes on March 28,2010 and he also toured with 50 Cent, and other rappers on The Invitation Tour. Around the same time he left Warner Bros. due to them delaying his album, Jay Rock then signed with indie record label Strange Music in the Fall of 2010, on a multi-album deal after leaving from Warner Bros. Jay Rock then went on tour with Tech N9ne, E-40, Glasses Malone, Kutt Calhoun and his mixtape Black Friday, was released December 7,2010 to iTunes. On June 21,2011 Rock released his single, Hood Gone Love It. His debut album Follow Me Home was released on July 26,2011 under independent record labels Strange Music, the album debuted at #83 on the Billboard 200, selling 5,300 copies in its first week

23.
Dr. Dre
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Andre Romelle Young, better known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, Dre was previously the co-owner of, and an artist on, Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Knoc-turnal,50 Cent, The Game and Kendrick Lamar. He is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, in 1996, he left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced an album titled Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1996. During the 2000s, he focused on production for other artists, Dr. Dre signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002 to his record label respectively, while contributing production on their albums. He has won six Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, The Wash and Training Day. Rolling Stone ranked Dre at 56 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time, Young was born in Compton, California, the first child of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name, Romelle, is derived from his fathers amateur R&B singing group and his parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried and had three children, sons Jerome and Tyree and daughter Shameka, in 1976, Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. Young is the cousin of producer Sir Jinx and he attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll in a program at Northrop Aviation Company. Thereafter, he focused on his life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years. Young fathered a son with Cassandra Joy Greene named Curtis, Curtis was brought up by his mother and first met his father 20 years later, when Curtis became rapper Hood Surgeon. Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, he attended a club called Eve After Dark to watch many DJs. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name Dr. J, based on the nickname of Julius Erving, at the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N. W. A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio. In this studio, Dre and Yella recorded several demos, in their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled Surgery, with the lyrics calling Dr. Dre to surgery serving as the chorus to the song

24.
Lily Allen
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Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper, known professionally as Lily Allen, is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and television presenter. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, Allen left school when she was 15 and concentrated on improving her performing and compositional skills. In 2005, she made some of her recordings public on Myspace and the publicity resulted in airplay on BBC Radio 1 and her first mainstream single, Smile, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. Her debut record, Alright, Still, was received, selling over 2.6 million copies worldwide and brought Allen a nomination at the Grammy Awards, Brit Awards. She began hosting her own talk-show, Lily Allen and Friends and her second studio album, Its Not Me, Its You, saw a genre shift, having more of an electropop feel, rather than the ska and reggae influences of the first one. The album debuted at one on the UK Albums Chart. It spawned the hit singles The Fear and Fuck You and this success saw her receive the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist at the 2010 Brit Awards. In 2009, Allen announced that she would be taking a hiatus from musical activities, in 2011, she launched her own record label. In 2013, Allen revealed that she had begun working on her studio album. On 12 November 2013, Allen premiered the video for her first original song since 2009, Hard out Here, Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London, daughter of Keith Allen, a Welsh-born comedian, and film producer Alison Owen. She has a sister, Sarah, a younger brother, actor Alfie. She is the goddaughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey and she is the third-cousin of singer Sam Smith. At age three Allen appeared on The Comic Strip Presents, episode The Yob, which her father had co-written. When she was four, her left the family. During her early childhood, Allen lived with her family on a council estate, for a time, the family lived with comedian Harry Enfield while her mother dated him. The Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer was close to Allen and she attended 13 schools, including Prince Charless junior alma mater, Hill House School, Millfield, Bedales School and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking. This led to Allen singing Baby Mine from Disneys Dumbo at a school concert, Allen told Loveline that the audience was brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good. At that point Allen said she knew music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system

25.
Freddie Gibbs
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Fredrick Tipton, better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. Fredrick Tipton was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, and grew up at 17th, Gibbs signed with Interscope Records in 2006 and recorded a debut album, but a year later the management of Interscope changed hands and the rapper was dropped. Both were released for free to the internet, on October 31,2011, Gibbs released his ninth mixtape Cold Day In Hell, featuring guest appearances from Young Jeezy, Juicy J, Freeway and Dom Kennedy. Cardo, DJ Burn One, Speakerbomb, Block Beattaz, Beatnick & K-Salaam, on December 11,2012 Gibbs announced he was no longer a member of Young Jeezys CTE label. He elaborated saying there is no beef between the two rappers, Gibbs joined fellow hip-hop artists Brianna Perry and Ace Hood on the 2013 Forgiato Fest at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Florida, on April 6,2013. On May 27,2013, Freddie Gibbs announced he would be releasing his debut album ESGN on July 9,2013, the album ended up being released on June 20,2013, three weeks before the planned release date. On January 17,2014, Freddie Gibbs announced that he was 75% complete with his studio album Eastside Slim. On March 18,2014, Gibbs released an album with producer Madlib, the album received universal acclaim from music critics and peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard 200 and number seven on the US Top Rap Albums charts. His next album, Shadow of a Doubt, was released on November 20,2015, on March 8,2017, Gibbs returned by announcing his third solo album, You Only Live 2wice, along with its pre-order link and release date of March 31,2017. The first single, Crushed Glass, was released with a music video. On June 4,2016, Gibbs was arrested before performing at a concert at Le Rex in Toulouse and he attended a hearing on June 3,2016 and was being held in custody with possible extradition to Austria. The rapper was scheduled to perform in London, Ireland, France, Portugal. On June 23,2016, Gibbs was ordered extradition to Austria for rape charges, Gibbs said he has no intention of escaping justice, whether French or Austrian. On August 16,2016, Gibbs was charged with sexual abuse charges on two women, on September 30,2016, Gibbs was acquitted of all charges related to the sexual abuse allegations. Critics have recognized Gibbs technically proficient and stylistically diverse rapping ability and he was featured on the Max Payne 3 official soundtrack and the NBA 2K12 official soundtrack, the Sleeping Dogs soundtrack, and more recently on the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack. A gunman opened fire on Gibbs, who was sitting in a car after he had finished performing at a store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Gibbs escaped unharmed and two members of his entourage received non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, ESGN Piñata Shadow of a Doubt You Only Live 2wice

26.
Mac Miller
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Malcolm James McCormick, best known by his stage name Mac Miller, is an American rapper. He is also a record producer under the pseudonym Larry Fisherman. Miller is also known for taking on multiple alter-egos, under the aliases Delusional Thomas, Larry Lovestein, in early 2010, Miller signed a record deal with Pittsburgh-based indie record label Rostrum Records. He subsequently began recording his debut studio album Blue Slide Park, the album went on to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, making it the first independently distributed debut album to top the chart since Tha Dogg Pounds 1995 album, Dogg Food. In early 2013, Miller launched REMember Music, his own label imprint. Millers second album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, was released on June 18,2013, in January 2014, Miller announced he was no longer signed to Rostrum Records. In October 2014, it was reported Miller signed a deal for him and his label REMember. Malcolm James McCormick was born on January 19,1992, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Karen Meyers, a photographer, and Mark McCormick and his father is Christian and his mother is Jewish, Miller was raised Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah. He was raised in the Point Breeze part of Pittsburgh, Miller attended Winchester Thurston School and Taylor Allderdice High School. In high school, Miller decided to focus on his hip hop career, later noting, Once I hit 15, I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, Miller, a self-taught musician, plays piano, guitar, drums, and bass. Miller first started rapping at the age of fourteen, before that, he wanted to be a singer. Prior to changing his name to Mac Miller, he was known as EZ Mac, Miller was also part of rap group The Ill Spoken together with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie. The Ill Spoken released the mixtape How High in 2008, in 2009 Mac Miller released two mixtapes The Jukebox, Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life before getting signed to Rostrum Records. In 2009 at age 17, he made it to the four in Rhyme Calisthenics. In early 2010, Miller signed with Rostrum Records, Rostrum president Benjy Grinberg met Miller while recording with Wiz Khalifa at ID Labs. Although Grinberg started giving Miller advice, he didnt show any interest in getting involved with his career until the artist began work on the K. I. D. S. Mixtape, when, as he later told HitQuarters, Grinberg noticed a maturation in his sound, by that point Miller had started attracting interest from different record companies but chose Rostrum due to its location in his hometown and association with Wiz Khalifa

27.
Travis Scott
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Jacques Webster, Jr. better known by his stage name Travis Scott, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from Houston, Texas. In 2012, Scott signed a deal with Epic Records. In November of the year, Scott signed a deal with Very GOOD Beats. In April 2013, it was announced he signed with T. I. s Grand Hustle imprint and he released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled Owl Pharaoh, in May 2013. He then released his second mixtape Days Before Rodeo in August 2014 and his debut album Rodeo, was released on September 4,2015. His sophomore album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, was released on September 2,2016, jacques Webster, Jr. was born on April 30,1992 in Houston, Texas. He grew up in Missouri City, a suburban area bordering southwest Houston. Scott stayed with his grandmother in the hood from ages one to six, but later moved to the suburbs, Scott attended the University of Texas at San Antonio before dropping out to fully pursue his music career. At the age of 16, Scott began his career as a record producer. He subsequently entered his first partnership with his friend, Chris Holloway. In 2008, the duo released their untitled first EP on Myspace, the following year, both Scott and Holloway formed with OG Chess, and formed a group, entitled The Classmates. The Classmates released two projects with Buddy Rich in 2009 and Cruisn USA in 2010, Scott mainly handled production work on both projects. Later in the year, personal conflicts and financial disputes lead to the disbanding of the group, after Scott left college, Scott moved from Houston, Texas to Washington, New York, where Scott began work with friend Mike Waxx, who owned the music website Illroots. Eventually frustrated in New York, Scott moved to Los Angeles, rapper T. I. subsequently listened to one of Scotts produced songs, entitled Lights. While in Los Angeles, T. I. s rep contacted Scott, during the meeting, T. I. freestyled over Animal, one of Scotts instrumental productions. His first project, titled Owl Pharaoh was set to be released as a download for 2012. However, the project was delayed, and was announced to be slated for the 2012 release, Scott released his track, called Blocka La Flame, a remix of fellow GOOD Music signee Pusha Ts single Blocka. The song was produced by Young Chop, with the production by Scott himself

28.
Vic Mensa
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Victor Kwesi Mensah, better known by his stage name Vic Mensa, is a Grammy-nominated American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He is currently signed to Roc Nation and was a member of the group Kids These Days and he released his first solo mixtape Innanetape. Mensa is also founder of the hip-hop collective Savemoney which includes frequent collaborator Chance the Rapper and his debut single Down on My Luck was released in June 2014 by Virgin EMI. Victor Kwesi Mensahs father is from Ghana and his mother is white American, Vic grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. He attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and while a freshman, when announcing a tour for 2015, Mensa said that he has plans to collaborate with Albarn sometimes in the near future. On September 18,2013, it was announced, that Mensa would be joining J. Cole and Wale on the What Dreams May Come Tour. Following the end of the tour, he toured Europe with Danny Brown, for the beginning of February 21,2014, to cap off his rise to stardom, Mensa was chosen to be on the cover of XXL for the Freshman Class of 2014. On May 12,2014, his first official single Down on My Luck was serviced to contemporary radio in the United Kingdom. On the same day, the video for the song was released. Down on My Luck was then released for download in international markets on June 6,2014. It was released as his first single from his debut EP, on February 12,2016, Kanye West debuted a track, titled Wolves from his upcoming album, The Life of Pablo. The song featured Vic Mensa, along with Sia at his adidas Originals showcase, Mensa later performed Wolves alongside West and Sia on Saturday Night Lives 40th Anniversary Celebration on February 15,2015. On April 10,2015, Vic Mensa released another collaboration with Kanye West, the song is said out to be his second single for his upcoming debut album, titled Traffic. On April 21,2015, Roc Nation announced that Vic had signed to its label, Jay also tweeted an iTunes link to Mensas new Kanye-featured single in the process. He has stated, that the album is around 80-90% done, in July 2015, Mensa released a new song, titled No Chill onto Apple Music. It was produced by Skrillex and Jahlil Beats, on the same month, he released a remix of Codeine Crazy, by Future, titled Codeine Crazy on SoundCloud. On August 14,2015, Mensa released a new song, in 2015, Mensa received a nomination for Best Rap Song at the 58th Grammy Awards as a songwriter for co-writing Kanye Wests single All Day. On February 8,2016 it was announced that Mensa, along with Travis Scott and iLoveMakonnen, on May 17,2016, Mensa was revealed to have teamed up in the studio with British virtual band Gorillaz to collaborate for a track on the groups upcoming studio album

29.
Casey Veggies
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Casey Jones, better known by his stage name Casey Veggies, is an American rapper and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Since 2007, he has released five independent mixtapes under LA clothing and his debut studio album, Live & Grow, was released on September 25,2015. Aside from his career, Casey was also a founding member of the Los Angeles hip hop collective Odd Future. At the age of 14, Casey released his first mixtape, titled Customized Greatly Vol.1, while he was going through by his name at the time. In an interview with Respect Mag, Casey stated it as, It’s hard to explain, really, I wanted to do my own thing. While working with a rapper and Def Jams recording artist YG on his second mixtape. After graduating high school, Veggies joined with Mac Miller, as one of the act for his Blue Slide Park Tour. Since then, Casey performed with artists, such as Nipsey Hussle, Dom Kennedy and Kendrick Lamar, as well as friends in OFWGKTA, including Tyler, Casey has also featured on records with artists, such as Rich Hil, King Chip and Raheem DeVaughn. During the recent show, which has included a sold out April 2012 performance, on the same month, he had also appeared with American rappers Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa on MTVs RapFixLive. Casey Veggies has also appeared on The Neighbourhoods mixtape - Jealou$y, on January 22,2013, Veggies released a solo project, which is a mixtape, Life Changes. In February 2013, Veggies signed a deal with VIC. On the following day, the opening of PNCINTL, Casey Veggies released a single. The artwork for the single showed the store opening, on May 10,2013, a new single, Money Dont Buy Time was released. Casey Veggies also appeared on the Earl Sweatshirt album Doris on the single Hive, Casey Veggies released a mixtape with Rockie Fresh, titled Fresh Veggies in December 2013. It was presented by PUMA and was released under Maybach Music Group, the mixtape features guest appearances from Overdoz, Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J, Kirko Bangz and Hit-Boy, along with additional productions handled by Lunice, Jahlil Beats and Hit-Boy, among others. Casey went on his first Canadian tour under PNCINTL management in May 2015, Veggies debut album, Live & Grow was released on September 25,2015. Live & Grow Official website Peas & Carats International

30.
Big Sean
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Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Sean signed with Kanye Wests GOOD Music in 2007, Def Jam Recordings in 2008, after releasing a number of mixtapes, Sean released his debut studio album, Finally Famous, in 2011. He released his studio album, Hall of Fame, on August 27,2013. Seans third studio album Dark Sky Paradise was released in 2015, Sean Michael Leonard Anderson was born on March 25,1988 in Santa Monica, California to Myra and James Anderson. When he was 3 months old, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he was raised by his mother, a school teacher and he attended the Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School with a 3.7 GPA. Big Sean is often heard saying west side in his songs, he is referring to the west side of his hometown Detroit, in 2005, Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West, initially West was reluctant to hear him, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him. According to Big Sean, West enjoyed his freestyle, As we get to the entrance of the radio station and we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head, after the freestyle, Sean left West his demo tape. Two years later, West signed Big Sean to GOOD Music, on September 30,2007, Big Sean released his first official mixtape Finally Famous, The Mixtape. His hit single, Getcha Some, produced by WrighTrax, attained media attention and led to articles in The Source and he also recorded a music video for Getcha Some, which was directed by Hype Williams. Sean released a mixtape hosted by Mick Boogie on April 16,2009. It featured the songs Million Dollars, Getcha Some and Supa Dupa, an unauthorized leak of his collaboration with Drake, called Made made its way onto the internet on April 30,2010. In an interview with TheHipHopUpdate. com on May 1, Big Sean expressed his disappointment over the leak, Big Seans official Facebook page confirmed that his debut album Finally Famous & Consequences Cons TV would be released on September 14,2010. On August 31, Big Sean tweeted that the album was not coming out on that day, the albums lead single, My Last, features vocals from Chris Brown and was produced by No I. D. According to Amazon. com, Big Seans Finally Famous was delayed by a week, Big Sean has revealed the cover art for his G. O. O. D. Music debut and explained that the one-week pushback was to be blamed on sample, the official track list was revealed on June 7. Finally Famous, Seans debut studio album, was released June 28,2011, and spawned three hit singles, My Last, Marvin & Chardonnay and Dance

31.
Tinashe
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Tinashe Jorgenson Kachingwe is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress and former model. She began her entertainment career at the age of three when she began modeling and acting, in 2012, Tinashe released two critically acclaimed mixtapes, In Case We Die and Reverie, which she created in her home studio. After the release of the mixtapes, Tinashe signed with RCA Records and she later released her third mixtape, Black Water. Her debut single,2 On, reached number one on the Rhythmic airplay chart and her debut studio album Aquarius, released in 2014, was noted by music critics as one of the most solid debuts by a new female artist in years. She has been nominated for a Soul Train Award in 2014 and was nominated for Best New Artist at the BET Awards in 2015 and she made her acting debut in the television film Cora Unashamed in 2000. In 2004, Tinashe appeared in box-office hit The Polar Express alongside actor Tom Hanks, from 2008 to 2009, Tinashe had a recurring role in the American sitcom Two and a Half Men as Celeste, Jakes girlfriend. Tinashe Kachingwe was born on February 6,1993 in Lexington, Kentucky and her parents met each other on a blind date during their time as undergrads at the University of Iowa. Tinashes name means We are with God in the Shona language and she has two younger brothers, Thulani and Kudzai. Kudzai is still enrolled in school while Thulani attends college at San Diego State University. She and her family moved to Los Angeles, California when she was eight years old and she attended Crescenta Valley High School for a year before finishing early to pursue a career in music full-time. She began studying ballet, tap, and jazz dancing at the age of 4, in 2007, Tinashe joined girl group The Stunners, founded by Vitamin C. Her bandmates were friends Marisol Esparza, Allie Gonino, Hayley Kiyoko, six months after their formation, the group signed with Columbia Records. The Stunners recorded a single that was to be used for the soundtrack, however. In 2009, the group left Columbia Records and signed a deal with Lionsgate Entertainment. On March 18,2009, they released a single, Bubblegum, on iTunes, in October, the group released a 5-song EP, influenced by artists such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani, and Rihanna. The music video for their single, We Got It, was released on February 22,2010. The group performed the song We Got It on The Today Show, after meeting with various labels, they signed a deal to Universal Republic Records in 2010. They released a single, Dancin Around the Truth on iTunes, the music video premiered on June 2,2010, just before the group was announced as an opening act on Justin Biebers My World Tour

32.
Big K.R.I.T.
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Justin Scott, better known by his stage name Big K. R. I. T. is an American rapper and record producer from Meridian, Mississippi. He is currently signed to Cinematic Music Group, previously released several mixtapes, including Hood Fame, with DJ Wally Sparks and The Last King, with DJ Breakem Off. When he started branding himself, he went by the name of Kritikal, wuz Here, digitally, garnering critical acclaim. That same month, former president of G-Unit Records and current Senior VP of A&R at Def Jam Records, Sha Money XL, co-headlined The Smokers Club Tour 2010 alongside fellow rappers Curren$y and Smoke DZA. Opened for Wiz Khalifa in Baltimore, Maryland Sayreville, New Jersey Winston-Salem, North Carolina and in Ashland, Virginia during the Waken Baken Tour. Released his highly anticipated and entirely self-produced mixtape, Return of 4Eva, featuring guests David Banner, Joi, Big Sant, Chamillionaire, Raheem Devaughn, Ludacris, and Bun B. The mixtape has been acclaimed by rap critics, with William Ketchum of HipHopDX calling it emotive, conceptual music, had given fans a free album – the magazines highest praise for a mixtape. Both critics praised Big K. R. I. T. s production skills as much as his lyrics and flow, and both named K. R. I. T. as a successor to Southern rap legends UGK, Scarface. On April 20,2011, Tom Breihan reviewed the mixtape for Pitchfork, giving an 8.2 out of 10 and awarding it the sites coveted Best New Music tag. On July 1,2011 Big K. R. I. T. announced the title of his studio album to be. It was originally set to be released on September 27,2011, from October 12,2011 until November 24,2011 K. R. I. T. Co-headlined The Smokers Club Tour 2011 with Curren$y and Method Man, released Live from the Underground June 5,2012 to tremendous expectancy. It debuted at one on the Hip And R&B and Rap Charts. He released his first single off the album titled, I Got This on May 7,2012 and he went on the Live from the Underground tour, which he headlined along with Slim Thug. In an interview on Bootleg Kevs radio show, on August 10,2012, he confirmed that he, during the same interview, he was also asked about his favorite rappers, to which he responded, Scarface. Man, I need these people in groups, can I put the rest as a group. Outkast, UGK and 8Ball & MJG, thats what my iTunes consists of. Along with singer Ashthon Jones collaborated with Lecrae for his single Mayday from Gravity, Gravity won Best Gospel Album in the 2013 Grammy Awards

33.
Disc jockey
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A disc jockey is a person who mixes different sources of pre-existing recorded music as it is playing, usually for a live audience in a nightclub or dance club or via broadcasting. DJs typically perform for an audience in a nightclub or dance club or a TV, radio broadcast audience, or in the 2010s. DJs also create mixes, remixes and tracks that are recorded for later sale, in hip hop music, DJs may create beats, using percussion breaks, basslines and other musical content sampled from pre-existing records. In hip hop, rappers and MCs use these beats to rap over, DJs use equipment that can play at least two sources of recorded music simultaneously and mix them together. This allows the DJ to create seamless transitions between recordings and develop unique mixes of songs, DJ equipment, notably the specialized DJ mixer, a small audio mixer with a crossfader and cue functions. The crossfader enables the DJ to blend or transition from one song to another, the cue knobs or switches allow the DJ to preview a source of recorded music in headphones before playing it for the live club or broadcast audience. Previewing the music in headphones helps the DJ pick the track they want to play. DJs may also use a microphone to speak to the audience, effects such as reverb to create sound effects, drum machines. The title DJ is also used by DJs in front of their real names or adopted pseudonyms or stage names as a title to denote their profession. Some DJs focus on creating a mix of songs for the club dancers or radio audience. Other DJs use turntablism techniques such as scratching, in which the DJ or turntablist manipulates the record player turntable to create new sounds. In many types of DJing, including club DJing and radio/TV DJing, there are several types of disc jockey. Radio DJs or radio personalities introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, club DJs select and play music in bars, nightclubs or discothèques, or at parties, raves, or even in stadiums. Mobile DJs travel with portable sound systems and play recorded music at a variety of events. Some mobile DJs also serve as the master of ceremonies at weddings or other events, directing the attention of attendees, there are also many competitions for DJs that specialize in different turntablism techniques, such as mixing, hip hop music-style scratching or other kinds of techniques. Other types of DJ use musical performance techniques that allow them to be categorized as performing musicians, hip hop DJs and are also often songwriters or music producers who use turntablism and sampling to create backing instrumentals for new tracks. In reggae, the DJ is a vocalist who raps, toasts, chants or chats over pre-recorded rhythm tracks, the individual who helps the DJ by selecting tracks or records to be played is called the selector. Many electronica artists and producers who work as DJs often perform music by combining turntablism with keyboards, digital musical instruments

34.
University of California, Santa Cruz
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The University of California, Santa Cruz, is a public research university and one of 10 campuses in the University of California system. Located 75 miles south of San Francisco at the edge of the community of Santa Cruz. Founded in 1965, UC Santa Cruz began as a showcase for progressive, cross-disciplinary undergraduate education, innovative teaching methods and contemporary architecture. The residential college system, which consists of ten colleges, is intended to combine the student support of a small college with the resources of a major university. The Santa Cruz site was selected over a proposal to build the campus closer to the population center of San Jose. The formal design process of the Santa Cruz campus began in the late 1950s, construction had started by 1964, and the university was able to accommodate its first students in 1965. The campus was intended to be a showcase for contemporary architecture, progressive teaching methods, according to founding chancellor Dean McHenry, the purpose of the distributed college system was to combine the benefits of a major research university with the intimacy of a smaller college. UC President Clark Kerr shared a passion with former Stanford roommate McHenry to build a university modeled as several Swarthmores in close proximity to each other, roads on campus were named after UC Regents who voted in favor of building the campus. Early student and faculty activism at UCSC pioneered an approach to environmentalism that greatly impacted the development of the surrounding area. The lowering of the age to 18 in 1971 led to the emergence of a powerful student-voting bloc. City voters in 2006 passed two measures calling on UCSC to pay for the impacts of campus growth, a Santa Cruz Superior Court judge invalidated the measures, ruling they were improperly put on the ballot. In 2008, the university, city, county and neighborhood organizations reached an agreement to set aside numerous lawsuits and allow the expansion to occur. UCSC agreed to local government scrutiny of its campus expansion plans, to provide housing for 67 percent of the additional students on campus. George Blumenthal, UCSCs 10th Chancellor, intends to mitigate growth constraints in Santa Cruz by developing off-campus sites in Silicon Valley. The NASA Ames Research Center campus is planned to ultimately hold 2,000 UCSC students – about 10% of the universitys future student body as envisioned for 2020. In April 2010, UC Santa Cruz opened its new $35 million Digital Arts Research Center, the 2, 000-acre UCSC campus is located 75 miles south of San Francisco, in the Ben Lomond Mountain ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Elevation varies from 285 feet at the entrance to 1,195 feet at the northern boundary. The southern portion of the campus consists of a large, open meadow

35.
Fashawn
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Santiago Leyva, known by his stage name Fashawn, is an American hip hop recording artist from Fresno, California. He first gained attention after releasing his debut album Boy Meets World in 2009. The album received acclaim and landed him on the cover of XXL Magazines Top 10 Freshmen issue in 2010. Since then, Fashawn has collaborated with artists and producers such as Nas, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Evidence, Murs, Aloe Blacc, Blu, The Alchemist. In 2014, Fashawn performed the theme to WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradleys rematch against Manny Pacquiao. On June 9,2014, Fashawn signed to Nas new label Mass Appeal Records, after years of anticipation, Fashawn released his second studio album The Ecology on February 24,2015. It ranked among the top 10 most downloaded albums on the iTunes Hip-Hop Chart during its first week of release, since then, songs from The Ecology have been featured in various forms of popular media. When he was 8 years old, Fashawn and his sister were placed in a group home, before their Uncle Roy took them into his custody as a father figure. Fashawn recalls writing his first rhyme at 8 years old and became engrossed in writing by 2000. In 2006, Fashawn released his first mixtape, Grizzly City, catching the attention of fellow Fresno MC Planet Asia, knowing the opportunity that presented him, Fashawn dropped out of school and pursued his dream. One Shot One Kill was well received by fans and hip-hop websites, including OnSMASH and DatPiff, gaining him more attention and momentum as an upcoming artist. In 2009, Fashawn performed throughout the United States, with various acts, including separate tours with Ghostface Killah. On September 24,2009, he released a project produced entirely by The Alchemist titled The Antidote to get fans hyped up for his solo album. On October 22,2009, Fashawn released his first full-length album, titled Boy Meets World, the album received critical acclaim, and Fashawn was praised for his ability to articulate the inner struggles and dreams of a young kid growing up in a tough environment. XXL Magazine gave the album an XL rating, concluding Boy Meets World is a debut from such a young MC. In March 2010, Fashawn graced the cover of XXLs Top 10 Freshmen issue, standing alongside Wiz Khalifa, J. Cole, Big Sean, Nipsey Hussle, Jay Rock, Freddie Gibbs and this represented a prestigious benchmark for upcoming rappers who demonstrated great potential and success. Between 2010 to 2011, Fashawn continued to embark on tours with Wiz Khalifa, Talib Kweli. He also performed at the Paid Dues and Rock The Bells festivals alongside Blu, on February 16,2011, he released a mixtape called Higher Learning Vol.2, which spawned two videos, Down That Road and Big Dreams produced by J. Cole

36.
Schoolboy Q
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Quincy Matthew Hanley, better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q, is an American hip hop recording artist from South Central Los Angeles, California. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment and in late 2011, Hanley is also a member of the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, alongside his label-mates and fellow California-based rappers Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar. In 2008, Hanley released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled ScHoolboy Turned Hustla and he later released a follow-up in 2009, titled Gangsta & Soul. He then returned in January 2011, with his first independent album, the project, released under TDE, to digital retailers only, reached number 100 on the US Billboard 200 chart. A little over a year later, his independent album Habits & Contradictions, was also released exclusively to digital retailers. The album received favorable reviews and debuted at number 111 on the US Billboard 200. After signing with Interscope, Hanley subsequently began recording his debut studio album. The album was released on February 25,2014 and debuted at one on the US Billboard 200. Quincy Matthew Hanley was born October 26,1986, on a base in Wiesbaden. His parents divorced before he was born, and his mother gave him a different to those of both his parents, supposedly at random. His father remained in the Army while his left and moved with Hanley to Texas for a couple years. He grew up in Los Angeles, California, on 51st Street, neighboring Figueroa and he attended John Muir Middle School. He claims to have been playing American football from the age of six years, Hanley played receiver, cornerback, and tailback, and in college he played receiver and returner. Growing up on Hoover Street, Hanley joined a gang called the 52 Hoover Gangster Crips. My homies were doing it and I wanted to do it, I didnt get into it with another hood or anything like that. I was just following the leader, before turning to music, Hanley became a drug dealer selling Oxycontin, and for a short time crack and marijuana. In 2007, he was arrested for a crime he at the time wouldnt disclose and says he was sent to jail for six months and he later revealed on reddit that it was related to a home invasion but did not go into detail. Schoolboy Q has said he wrote his first verse when he was 16, Music became his way of expressing himself

37.
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
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Good Kid, M. A. A. D City is the second studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. The album was released on October 22,2012, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment, the album serves as Lamars major label debut, after his signing to Aftermath and Interscope in early 2012. It was preceded by the release of Kendricks debut studio album Section.80, billed as a short film by Kendrick Lamar on the album cover, the concept album follows the story of Lamars teenage experiences in the drug-infested streets and gang lifestyle of his native Compton. Good Kid, M. A. A. D City received widespread acclaim from critics and it earned Lamar four Grammy Award nominations at the 56th Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. It became Lamars first album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 16, the album was also named to many end-of-the-year lists, often topping them. It was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in August 2013, by March 2015, the album had sold 1,400,000 copies domestically, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The albums release was supported by five singles – The Recipe featuring Dr. Dre, Swimming Pools, Backseat Freestyle, Poetic Justice featuring Drake, All five singles received varied chart success. Lamar also went on a tour between May and August 2013, featuring the other members of the hip hop collective, Black Hippy. After the release and success of his studio album Section.80, Lamar signed a major label record deal with Interscope Records. He told HipHopDX that he did not want to work with high-profile producers, back to the neighbourhood and back in that same space where we used to be, got inspired. So this album wont sound like Section.80, before the albums title was officially revealed, fans had already been calling Lamars major label debut Good Kid, Mad City or Good Kid in a Mad City, as it was a nickname Lamar had given himself. The albums title refers to Lamars childhood innocence, and how Compton affected his life. It was just me getting my hands on the thing at the wrong time being oblivious to it. The cover artwork for Good Kid, M. A. A. D City features a baby Lamar, the uncle who is holding Lamar also is displaying the Crips gang sign with his hand, and the poster above the head of the uncle features Lamar and his father. Recording sessions for the album took place at PatchWerk Recording Studios in Atlanta, Encore Studios in Burbank, TDE Red Room in Carson, the first song that Lamar recorded for the album was Compton, which featured Dr. Dre. The track serves as the track on the album. On August 15,2012, Lady Gaga announced via Twitter, that she had collaborated with Lamar on a song called Partynauseous, for the album, and would be released on September 6. However, on August 23, Gaga announced that the song was no longer being released on that date, eventually, it was confirmed that Lady Gaga would not be featured on the album due to timing issues and creative differences

38.
Hell of a Night (Schoolboy Q song)
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Hell of a Night is a song by American hip hop recording artist Schoolboy Q, taken from his major label debut studio album Oxymoron. The track, which features production by two American record producers DJ Dahi, and JayFrance was serviced to contemporary radio as the fifth official single from Oxymoron on October 21,2014. It was met generally positive reviews from music critics. The song first surfaced in unmastered form during the 2013 NBA Playoffs and was confirmed to be leaked by the NBA and he stated that the song was unfinished and that it would be tagged with Mixed By Ali when it was ready. Hell of a Night was met generally positive reviews from music critics. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard stated, Hell of a Night features some of Schoolboy Qs slinkiest rhymes about fast-living and hypnotizing women. With an spooky harmony floating in the background and a drum machine snapping Qs syllables shut, nathan S of DJBooth said, you’ll levy some criticism at Hell of a Night, although there’s some real grit in the verses surrounding that club anthem hook and bridge. Brandon Soderberg of Spin said, the song was a party track begging for a Zedd remix that flirts with EDM histrionics, andrew Spragg of The Quietus stated that the song was forgettable. Aziz of Sputnikmusic said the song exudes gleaming catchiness – the ad-libbing on its final verse makes it one of the most enjoyable on the album – its hook is unbearably corny, joe Sweeney of Slant Magazine called the song a languid dance-crossover that drags the album down. Omar Burgess of HipHopDX referred to the song as album filler, the official music video was released November 7,2014 shortly after the track was sent to radio. The video features Schoolboy Q in a house party

39.
Billboard Hot 100
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The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play and online streaming, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday, when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming data, is available on a real-time basis. A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesdays, as of the issue for the week ending on April 15,2017, the Hot 100 has had 1,061 different number one hits. The current number one song is Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, prior to 1955, Billboard did not have a unified, all-encompassing popularity chart, instead measuring songs by individual metrics. At the start of the era in 1955, three such charts existed, Best Sellers in Stores was the first Billboard chart, established in 1936. This chart ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country, Most Played by Jockeys was Billboards original airplay chart. It ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio disc jockeys, Most Played in Jukeboxes ranked the most played songs in jukeboxes across the United States. On the week ending November 12,1955, Billboard published The Top 100 for the first time, the Top 100 combined all aspects of a singles performance, based on a point system that typically gave sales more weight than radio airplay. The Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts continued to be published concurrently with the new Top 100 chart. The week ending July 28,1958 was the publication of the Most Played By Jockeys and Top 100 charts. On August 4,1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100 quickly became the industry standard and Billboard discontinued the Best Sellers In Stores chart on October 13,1958. The Billboard Hot 100 is still the standard by which a songs popularity is measured in the United States, the Hot 100 is ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and streaming activity provided by online music sources. There are several component charts that contribute to the calculation of the Hot 100. Charts are ranked by number of gross audience impressions, computed by cross-referencing exact times of radio airplay with Arbitron listener data. Hot Singles Sales, the top selling singles compiled from a sample of retail store, mass merchant and internet sales reports collected, compiled. The chart is released weekly and measures sales of commercial singles. With the decline in sales of singles in the US

40.
Indie rock
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Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Originally used to independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. In the mid-1980s, the term began to be used to describe the music produced on punk and post-punk labels. Some prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s, during the 1990s, Grunge bands broke into the mainstream, and the term alternative lost its original counter-cultural meaning. The term indie rock became associated with the bands and genres that remained dedicated to their independent status, by the end of the 1990s indie rock developed subgenres and related styles including lo-fi, noise pop, emo, slowcore, post-rock and math rock. In the 2000s, changes in the industry and in music technology enabled a new wave of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream success. In the early 2000s, a new group of bands played a stripped-down. The commercial breakthrough from these scenes was led by four bands, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, emo also broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s. By the end of the 2000s the proliferation of bands was being referred to as indie landfill. The term indie rock, which comes from independent, describes the small and relatively low-budget labels on which it is released, the influences and styles of the artists have been extremely diverse, including punk, psychedelia, post-punk and country. Allmusic identifies indie rock as including a number of varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes, in fact, there is an everlasting list of genres and subgenres of indie rock. Many countries have developed a local indie scene, flourishing with bands with enough popularity to survive inside the respective country. However, there are still indie bands that start off locally, Indie rock has been identified as a reaction against the macho culture that developed in alternative rock in the aftermath of Nirvanas success. However, Cortney Harding pointed out that this sense of equality is not reflected in the number of women running indie labels. The BBC documentary Music for Misfits, The Story of Indie pinpoints the birth of indie as the 1977 self-publication of the Spiral Scratch EP by Manchester band Buzzcocks, Indie pop and indie were originally synonymous. In the mid-1980s, indie began to be used to describe the music produced on post-punk labels rather than the labels themselves. The indie rock scene in the US was prefigured by the rock that dominated college radio playlists. In the United States, the term was associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of the Pixies, Hüsker Dü, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr

41.
Beach House
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Beach House is an American dream pop band from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2004. The band consists of French-born Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scally, there were different plant-names, Wisteria, that kind of thing. But, once we stopped trying, it just came out, in an interview with Pitchfork Media, Legrand addressed their two member status, ts a way to challenge ourselves, What do you do when its just the two of you. Ne of the reasons this has been such an experience for me is that with two people, its so much easier to achieve things that feel exciting and new. The song Apple Orchard was featured on a Pitchfork Media MP3 mixtape in August 2006, in October 2006 the bands self-titled debut album, Beach House, was released through Carpark Records. That year, Pitchfork Media ranked it 16th on its Best Albums list, Beach Houses second album, Devotion, was released on February 26,2008. It was received with acclaim and was included in Pitchforks Best Albums of 2008 list. On October 21,2008, the released the single Used to Be. Beach House also recorded a cover of Queens Play the Game for the iTunes Store release of the Red Hot Organizations 2009 compilation, in 2009, Legrand provided backing vocals on the song Two Weeks by the indie rock band Grizzly Bear. She later collaborated with the band again by providing vocals to Slow Life, in October 2010, the band contributed a charity T-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the House of Ruth womens shelter in Maryland, US for victims of domestic violence. Teen Dream, the dynamic and intense third album, was released on Sub Pop on January 26,2010. The album was released in the UK by Bella Union and in Mexico by Arts & Crafts and it contains a newer version of their 2008 single Used to Be. Norway was made available as a download on the bands website on November 17,2009. The album was produced and engineered by Chris Coady, the albums unanimously positive reviews have garnered the band a larger fan base, with Jay-Z and Beyoncé being spotted at the bands shows. I would not want to say that 2010 will be our year, necessarily, I don’t want to be defined by this year, I want it to just be a beginning. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. On March 7,2012 the band streamed a new song, Myth, the album Bloom was released on May 15,2012 via Sub Pop. A second song from the album, Lazuli, was released on April 13,2012, Beach House was featured on the cover of Issue #80 of the Fader

42.
Complex (magazine)
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Complex is a New York–based media platform for youth culture which was founded as a bi-monthly magazine by fashion designer Marc Eckō. Complex reports on trends in style, pop culture, music, sports and sneakers with a focus on streetwear, sneaker culture, hip-hop, Complex currently reaches over 120 million unique users per month across its owned and operated and partner sites, socials and YouTube channels. The magazine ceased publication with the December 2016/January 2017 issue, in 2016 December, Complex acquired the website Trillera. com. In 2016, it became a subsidiary of Verizon and Hearst. Complex was established in 2002 by the founder of the Eckō Unltd, Brand, Marc Eckō, as a print magazine aimed at providing young males a report of the latest in hip-hop, fashion and pop culture without regard to race. The name Complex evolved from a slogan developed to promote the Eckō Unltd, the idea was to create a mens magazine that combined Eckōs streetwear and hip-hop attitude along with the style of Japanese mens magazines by providing consumer guides. This was achieved by creating a magazine in two sections, one magazine, and the other a shopping guide. In 2005, Complex was joined by the senior editor of Vibe magazine. He became editor-in-chief and chief content officer a year later, a position he retains as of February 2014. By 2006, Complex had begun to turn a profit which allowed the magazine to consider an expansion of their online presence, in April 2007, Complex soft-launched a media network with four websites, NahRight, Nice Kicks, SlamxHype and MoeJackson. In September 2007, Complex launched Complex Media in order to capitalize on the trend toward digital content. In 2010, ad sales grew 154%, according to comScore, Complex got 12 million unique hits in March 2012. This encouraged large brands such as Coors, AT&T, Ford, McDonalds, Nike, Adidas, Complex now includes over 100 sites. In 2011, Complex acquired Pigeons and Planes, a music and rap blog. In 2013, Complex launched the music site Do Androids Dance and Green Label. That year, Complex also acquired the sneakerhead culture magazine and website Sole Collector, on November 4,2013, Complex premiered a new logo and cover design on Instagram that would appear online, as well as on the December 2013 Eminem cover issue. In 2013, Complex partnered with Mountain Dew to launch Green Label an entertainment, in 2014, Complex launched an NBA-themed website called Triangle Offense in a partnership with Bacardi rum. In August 2014, Complex ranked #3 in the United States in a ComScore survey of visitors between the ages of 18 and 34 with 20.3 million in that demographic per month

43.
Lecrae
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Lecrae Devaughn Moore, mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American Christian hip hop artist, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the independent record label Reach Records, and the co-founder and president of the non-profit organization ReachLife Ministries. To date, he has released seven albums and three mixtapes as a solo artist, and has released three studio albums, a remix album, and one EP as the leader of the hip hop group 116 Clique. He produced much of his material along with other early Reach Records releases. Lecrae, in reference to his label as a Christian rapper, has stated that his music is just hip hop, in May 2016, Lecrae signed to Columbia Records in a joint deal between his label and Columbia. Lecrae debuted with Real Talk in 2004 through Reach Records and his third solo album, Rebel, released in 2008, became the first Christian hip hop album to reach No.1 on the Billboard Gospel chart. On May 10,2012, Lecrae released his first mixtape, Church Clothes, considered his breakthrough into mainstream hip hop, the mixtape was downloaded over 100,000 times in less than 48 hours. His sixth studio album, Gravity, came out on September 4,2012, Lecrae released his seventh album, Anomaly, on September 9,2014. It debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 with 88,587 copies sold through the first week, Lecraes filmography includes a role in the television film A Cross to Bear and a brief role as Dr. Malmquist in the comedy film Believe Me. He has also presented on and written about racial tension and injustice in the United States, born and raised by his single mother in Southern Houston, Texas, Lecrae moved often early in life, living in San Diego, Denver, and Dallas. He has stated that he would go to church with his Christian grandmother, Lecrae never met his father, who ended up becoming a drug addict. Experiencing abuse and neglect during his childhood, Lecrae used his ability to rap as a source of significance, according to Lecrae, his grandmother would not allow him to watch rap music videos on television, but he would sneak in late at night. It was in these videos that Lecrae found individuals to look up to, Lecrae states that there were no Martin Luther Kings or Malcolm Xs, they had all passed away so I had Tupac. After being shown a gun by his uncle, Lecrae began looking up to gangsters, Lecrae remembers taking a BB gun and standing in the street pointing it to a car, frightening the female driver, simply for fun. At 11 years old, he started writing music for a rhythm and his first track, written for a neighborhood crush, emulated the style of Tupac, Outkast, and A Tribe Called Quest. At the age of 16, he started taking drugs, fighting, was arrested in high school for stealing, Lecrae tried pretty much every drug there was to try except for heroin and crack cocaine. According to CNN, he became a dealer and used the Bible that his grandmother gave him as a good luck charm. After being arrested for possession, the officer saw the Bible

44.
Jazmine Sullivan
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Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American singer-songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Elements of R&B, reggae, dub, pop, jazz, neo soul, Jazmine cites singers Brandy, Changing Faces, Kim Burrell, Lauryn Hill, and Dorinda Clark-Cole as her main influences and inspirations. Jazmine Sullivan was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and her mother Pam is a former backup singer for Philadelphia International Records. When she was five years old, her father landed a position as a curator for the citys Historic Strawberry Mansion in the Strawberry Mansion section and she is a 2005 graduate of the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts where she was a vocal music major. Sullivan began singing as a contralto in the choir, then a few years later in the adult choir. Sullivans exposure to music was initially limited, I was doing solos in church and someone wanted me to sign to a gospel label when I was eleven but I wasnt ready to do that. Then when McDonalds had a competition for kids in cities, I got a chance to perform Accept What God Allows on Its Showtime at the Apollo. She sang with Stevie Wonder at his grandsons birthday at the age of 13, Sullivan was initially signed to Jive records at the age 15. There, she recorded an album, but the album was never released. Sullivan was eventually dropped from the label, while unsigned, Sullivan took songwriting into her own hands, and would later re-team with Elliott for her first two studio albums after being signed to J Records in 2007. Sonically, Sullivan alternates between modern productions and an 1980s sound which gives her old school sound, shes a singer with a contralto vocal range and takes vocal inspiration from singers Kim Burrell, Lauryn Hill, and Brandy particularly their thundering voices and smooth runs. Jazmine has a voice with a metallic and raspy ring to it in her upper chest, the lower register remains warm and airy, while still being supported. Her range spans all the way to an A2, while still being clearly audible, jazmines versatility is also surprising considering how thick her tone is. She can carry all her weight up to G5, while doing some extremely complicated runs, shes often mistaken for a Mezzo Soprano due to her dark, rich and slightly androgynous voice in the lower register. Nonetheless, the register remains bright but fragile. She describes her style as flashbacks, in reference to her songs about failed relationships that were both physically and emotionally abusive. Her music displays her responses to these relationships famously with the song Bust Your Windows and she writes just how she is feeling, which in turn, taking a day or up to a month to complete. During the recording of the album Reality Show, Sullivan spent so much time revising and re-recording, but this only contributes to her perfectionist personality that she puts in the composition of her songs

Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of …

Hip hop producer and rapper RZA in a music studio with two collaborators. Pictured in the foreground is a synthesizer keyboard and a number of vinyl records; both of these items are key tools that producers and DJs use to create hip hop "beats".